A Phase 3 interventional study of induction chemotherapy (mDCF) and Concomitant chemotherapy (Capecitabin + Mitomycin-C) in Anal Cancer, sponsored by Federation Francophone de Cancerologie Digestive. Recruiting at 114 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-09-02.
Sponsored by Federation Francophone de Cancerologie Digestive · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment
Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus is still a rare disease but its incidence increases mostly due to its association with human papillomavirus (HPV). When localized, the standard treatment combines radiotherapy and chemotherapy with 5FU and mitomycin-C. Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) achieves a good outcome for early stage tumors (T1-T2 tumors without nodal involvement), but more advanced tumors (T3-T4 or N1) are associated with a dismal prognosis. About 35 % of such patients relapse within two years after the end of treatment Recently, for metastatic or recurrent tumors after chemoradiotherapy, a chemotherapy combining docetaxel, cisplatin and 5FU (modified DCF protocol) has given very good results with a median overall survival of 39.2 months in 2 French trials (Epitopes HPV01 and 02). Our idea is to propose a new strategy , associating this chemotherapy (mDCF) followed by chemoradiotherapy to improve efficacy of the treatment for patients with locally advanced anal cancers. To this end, The principal investigator propose a national, multicenter, randomized phase 3 clinical trial to compare induction chemotherapy with mDCF followed by chemoradiotherapy versus standard chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced anal canal cancer.
the efficacy of the treatment will be evaluated by comparing disease-related event-free survival at 2 years according to the type of treatment. Other endpoints will also be evaluated such as overall survival and colostomy-free survival, treatment tolerability, response rate and quality of life.
This trial will be offered to patients over 18 years of age with locally advanced anal cancer without metastasis (T3-4 or N1). It is open to patients over 75 years of age subject to a favorable evaluation by an oncogeriatrician. It is also open to immunocompromised patients (HIV+) if their immunity is well controlled under antiretroviral treatment.The standard chemoradiotherapy treatment consists of 33 sessions of radiation, one session per day from Monday to Friday for 6.5 weeks. It is combined with chemotherapy that includes mitomycin during the first and fifth weeks of radiation therapy, as well as capecitabine that are taken on the days of radiation therapy.In the experimental arm, this chemoradiotherapy treatment is preceded by 4 sessions of mDCF chemotherapy performed every 2 weeks.After treatment, patients are followed up at 8 weeks, then every 4 months for 2 years, and every 6 months for the last year with clinical examination and imaging (CT and MRI).
297 studies on the registry are indexed under Anus Neoplasms; 74 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 310 is above the median of 66 across 211 interventional studies indexed under Anus Neoplasms.
Browse Anus Neoplasms studies →Federation Francophone de Cancerologie Digestive is the lead sponsor of 63 studies on the registry; 15 are open to participants now.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Locally advanced tumors without
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.
It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
CYP3A is a group of enzymes, mainly CYP3A4, in the liver and gut that break down many medicines. Some medicines, supplements and foods (grapefruit, St John’s wort) slow them down or speed them up, which changes how much of a study drug stays in the body.
Studies list them so they can be avoided or switched; bring a list of everything you take, including supplements.
Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.
Histologically or cytologically confirmed
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)
The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.
It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Creatinine clearance (CrCl)
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Bilirubin
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ECOG performance status
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Childbearing potential
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraception
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Postmenopausal
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Investigational drug or device
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
CYP3A (CYP3A4) inhibitors and inducers
CYP3A is a group of enzymes, mainly CYP3A4, in the liver and gut that break down many medicines. Some medicines, supplements and foods (grapefruit, St John’s wort) slow them down or speed them up, which changes how much of a study drug stays in the body.
Studies list them so they can be avoided or switched; bring a list of everything you take, including supplements.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Live vaccines
Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Pelvic chemoradiotherapy Radiotherapy consists of conformational intensity-modulated external irradiation with simultaneous integrated boost (IMRT-SIB) with 2 level of dose (30 sessions) * 49.5 Gy (5 x 1.65 Gy/week) to the pelvis * 60 Gy (5 x 2 Gy /week) to the primary tumor and initially involved nodes Concomitant Chemotherapy consists of Mitomycin-C (10 mg/m2 intravenous infusion at D1 and D29) and Capecitabine (1650 mg/m²/day divided in two oral intakes 825 mg/m² twice a day, five days a week). Patients should be counseled to only take capecitabine on the days when radiotherapy is being given
Drug: Concomitant chemotherapy (Capecitabin + Mitomycin-C) · Radiation: radiotherapy
Induction chemotherapy with mDCF (4 cycles) followed by pelvic chemoradiotherapy Induction chemotherapy consists of mDCF administered every 2 weeks: * Docetaxel (40 mg/m², day 1), * Cisplatin (40 mg/m², day 1) * 5-FU (1200 mg/m²/day IV for 2 days) Chemoradiotherapy is the same as described above in control arm
Drug: induction chemotherapy (mDCF) · Drug: Concomitant chemotherapy (Capecitabin + Mitomycin-C) · Radiation: radiotherapy
Induction chemotherapy consists of mDCF administered every 2 weeks: * Docetaxel (40 mg/m², day 1), * Cisplatin (40 mg/m², day 1) * 5-FU (1200 mg/m²/day IV for 2 days)
Concomitant Chemotherapy consists of Mitomycin-C (10 mg/m2 intravenous infusion at D1 and D29) and Capecitabine (1650 mg/m²/day divided in two oral intakes 825 mg/m² twice a day, five days a week). Patients should be counseled to only take capecitabine on the days when radiotherapy is being given
Radiotherapy consists of conformational intensity-modulated external irradiation with simultaneous integrated boost (IMRT-SIB) with 2 level of dose (30 sessions) * 49.5 Gy (5 x 1.65 Gy/week) to the pelvis * 60 Gy (5 x 2 Gy /week) to the primary tumor and initially involved nodes
Disease-related event free survival (DREFS) at 2 years
DREFS will be compared between the two arms . An event is defined as :progression, residual tumor at 6 months requiring APR, recurrence (local or metastatic) or death
Time frame: 2 years after last patient completed treatment
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Plan to share: Undecided
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Federation Francophone de Cancerologie Digestive